Fairy Tales and Tall Tales: Supplemental Guide 6A | Pecos Bill 131When the coyote saw this dirty, naked, little creature crawling
around on all fours, she thought he was a cute little animal, even
if his ears were mighty small. Little Bill reached up and patted the
coyote’s head and said, “Nice doggie!”* Show image 6A-3: Young Bill howls at the moon with coyote pups
The doggie—I mean coyote—liked Little Bill. She took him home
and raised him with her pups. The coyotes taught Bill to roam
the prairies and howl at the moon. They taught him the secrets of
hunting, how to leap like a mountain lion, and to run like the wind.
They taught him how to chase lizards and lie so still that he was
almost invisible.*
[Ask: “Do you think a little boy can really be part of a coyote pack, or is this an
exaggeration?”]
The years went by—eighteen of them to be exact—and Bill grew
up strong and healthy. One day he was out hunting along the Pecos
River when he saw a most unusual—and strange—sight. It seemed
to be a big animal with four legs. Or was it six legs? And why did it
have one head in front and another on top?
[Say: “Tell your partner what you think Bill sees.” Call on two partner pairs to
share.] Show image 6A-4: Bill meets a man on a horse
Well, it turned out to be a horse with a man riding it, something
Bill had never seen before. Bill scurried—and quickly ran—around
the horse a few times. Then he slowly crept forward and took a sniff
of the man’s boot.
“Boy,” said the man, “what are you doin’ scampering around
down there in your birthday suit?”
[Explain that Bill is naked—wearing his “birthday suit”—just like babies are born
naked.]
“Sniffin’,” said Bill. “I’m a coyote!”
“No, you ain’t,” said the man. “You’re a man, like me.”
“Nooo!” howled Bill. “Coyoteeeee!”